Pailin (Preaw) Pama
562331
5 June
Quarter 2/2013
PC 3 Group 5
Preparation Center for Languages and Mathematics
Should homosexuals be allowed to serve in the military?
From 1980 to 1990, approximately 17,000 servicemen and women (an average about 1,500 per year) were discharged from any branch of the military of United States(“Homosexuals in the Armed” ,1992). This number includes all members of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard who were discharged because they were lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Nowadays, there are so many homosexuals who work in the military even though some people do not accept them to be served in the military same as other soldiers who does not want gays to work with them also, so some of the soldiers in the army are treating homosexual soldier badly such as making fun of them and being disrespected to those homosexual soldiers. (“Homosexuals in the Armed” ,1992) Consequently, almost every homosexuals in the military have to hide themselves from what they are and they can not let other soldiers know that they are gay because they might be discharged from their military or they will be treating badly by others. Keeping this secret is a rule for homosexuals in the military which initiated by President Bill Clinton in 1993, and it is called ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell’ (DADT) policy within the United States armed forces. (Belkin, 2010). This policy indicated that homosexual citizens could still serve in the military if they do not announce their sexual orientation, they have keep this as a secret by not telling anyone in their army and other soldiers have to follow this rule by not asking anyone if they are homosexual or not. Nonetheless, some of them still can not follow this rule and they were noticed by others that they are gay and they were discharged. In fact, many people doesn’t want homosexual to be in a military, in 1997, 49 percent of